Rowing When the Tide Is In
Ding-dong.
Noel pressed the doorbell.
It wasn't an apartment, but a fairly large house.
Peering around, he saw that this wasn't the only massive house in the neighborhood.
Was this a wealthy neighborhood?
A voice drifted from inside.
"The Mountain God sent me."
Noel didn't actually know who he was supposed to look for or why, but since it was written on the leaf, he decided to follow the instructions.
He had briefly considered waiting until tomorrow, but it felt urgent, so he had set out immediately.
"Did the Mountain God send you?"
At the sudden voice, Noel reflexively turned his head.
Whether the being had phased through the wall or flown down, a figure wearing a blue robe similar to the Mountain God's was staring at him.
Perhaps because he wore a traditional black hat, a gat, he looked like a young nobleman of high status.
He possessed strong spiritual power, but he wasn't quite a deity.
He was just below the rank of a mid-tier deity.
"Who are you?"
"Ah, I am Baek Cheongsol. As a servant of the Mountain God, I guard this family under his divine command."
Noel was slightly taken aback by the spirit's polite bow.
"Welcome, Guardian Deity."
He bowed even lower toward Asin.
"It seems the Mountain God cherishes this family deeply," Asin remarked.
"Yes. Many humans once worshiped the Mountain God, but they could not stem the tide of time. They forgot him, or their lineages died out. This is the last remaining family."
A look of sorrow crossed his face, but then Cheongsol beamed brightly at Noel.
He looked genuinely delighted to see him.
"I am overjoyed that the number of people who recognize and remember the Mountain God has grown like this."
"I was asked to deliver this leaf."
Noel pulled the leaf from his pocket.
At the sight of the glowing leaf, Cheongsol's face filled with deep emotion.
Noel thought he was a ghost with a remarkably expressive face.
"Because the Mountain God is such a noble being, very few humans can perceive him."
"Is that so?"
"Indeed. Even most shamans struggle to lay eyes on him," Asin agreed.
"I saw him just fine!" Kkamangi piped up.
Kkamangi, who was draped over Asin's shoulder, bared its tiny teeth as it spoke.
"But you are a spirit, Kkamangi," Asin pointed out gently.
"Then how can Noel see him?"
"That is what makes Noel special."
Asin stroked Kkamangi's chin.
"Are you... a sacred beast?"
At Cheongsol's question, Asin shook her head.
"Not yet."
"I have met so many noble beings today. I was so overjoyed that I briefly forgot my manners. Please forgive me."
Cheongsol bowed slightly, then pointed toward the front door.
Right on cue, the door swung open.
"Hello."
Noel turned and saw a woman who had rushed out in a hurry.
She looked utterly astonished.
Her gaze briefly locked onto his casted arm and the bandages on his face.
"Did... the Mountain God send you?"
She seemed unable to believe her ears.
Her expression was a mix of shock and doubt.
"Yes."
"...Is that true?"
"Her grandmother is the one you must deliver the leaf to," Cheongsol explained. "She has been saying all day that a 'noble guest' would visit today."
Hearing Cheongsol's explanation, Asin asked,
"Is she a shaman?"
"No, but she has very strong spiritual intuition. She often sees things in her dreams."
"Didn't your grandmother say a noble guest would visit today?"
Noel immediately put Cheongsol's information to use.
At those words, the woman gasped, looking as if she might collapse on the spot.
"......So, he really exists? The Mountain God?"
"Would I be here if he didn't? The Mountain God was very worried about your grandmother. May I come in now?"
"P-Please, come inside."
The woman hesitated before opening the door wider and guiding him in.
To think such things still exist in this day and age...
Her muttered thoughts were so loud they practically rang in Noel's ears.
'If you can't see it, it's hard to believe.'
It was a truth he had always known.
In his original world, people had known ghosts existed long before a necromancer assassinated the emperor. But here, despite the presence of shamans, so many people remained skeptical.
It was a natural reaction.
"There's a dog here! I'm going to have a staring contest!"
Kkamangi scampered toward the yard with its tail lowered in excitement.
Noel watched Kkamangi's retreating figure and raised an eyebrow.
He found the creature utterly incomprehensible.
Since it would probably return soon anyway, he figured he should leave a window open for it later.
Noel then turned his gaze to Cheongsol.
"Do you have a message to pass on?"
The quick-witted Asin asked on his behalf.
"Even trivial things?" Cheongsol asked.
At Cheongsol's words, Noel gave a small nod.
Right on cue, building trust was the most important thing.
"She loses her things very often. There are three ballpoint pens under her bed. There is a hair tie where the bathroom towels are kept, and the sparrow keychain is in the third drawer of her vanity. Also... No, that is enough for now."
"She must lose things quite often indeed," Asin murmured, looking at Cheongsol with mild disbelief.
If he hadn't stopped himself, he looked ready to list her entire inventory of lost items.
"You lose your things quite often, don't you?" Noel casually brought up.
"...How did you know?"
The woman whipped her head around.
Meeting her startled eyes, Noel casually listed the locations.
"Three ballpoint pens under your bed. A hair tie where the bathroom towels are kept, and the sparrow keychain is in the third drawer of your vanity. Check them later."
"......"
The woman stopped dead in her tracks.
How on earth could he know that?
It perfectly matched the items she had recently lost.
"......A-Are you really a shaman?"
"Yes," Noel smiled warmly.
"And she has a close friend named Lee Na-yoon," Cheongsol added, seizing the opportunity. "That friend talks behind her back a lot whenever she's not around. Please help her cut ties with her."
Since it was just a matter of passing along the message, it wasn't difficult.
"You have a friend named Lee Na-yoon, right?"
"......!"
The woman gasped, covering her mouth.
How did he know her name, let alone what she looked like?
Goosebumps erupted all over her body, and she felt like jumping up and down in sheer shock.
'This is crazy! Absolutely crazy! He's the real deal! How does he know that?'
Swallowing her rising screams, she nodded.
"She doesn't really like you. Seeing how she takes the lead in talking behind your back when you're not around, I think it's best to cut ties with her quickly. It will only have a negative impact on your other friendships. Of course, the choice is ultimately yours," Noel advised gently.
Because it was exactly right.
"She... did that to me?"
"Yes."
"Really...?"
"I'm just letting you know. Shall we go inside now?" Noel pointed toward the door.
He felt like they had been standing outside for too long.
"...C-Could you tell me more? Should I pay you a consultation fee?"
"I came today for a more urgent matter, so let's talk about that later. If we delay, your grandmother's condition might become critical."
At Noel's words, the woman snapped out of her daze.
Her parents' expressions had been grim all day.
They had been whispering about her grandmother, and her mother had cried a lot.
As soon as she opened the door, her parents were already waiting inside.
"Welcome."
As both of them bowed to Noel, he blinked and shifted his gaze awkwardly.
'Why... are they being so polite?'
Noel actually felt a bit tense.
He understood they were welcoming him, but he hadn't expected it to be to this extent.
Noel belatedly bowed his head.
"Hello..."
"Did the Mountain God really send you?" the middle-aged woman asked urgently.
"Yes. Why else would I come? How would I even know where this place is?"
Noel smiled as brightly as possible.
He didn't want to show that he was nervous.
"Ah! Please tell the father not to start that business," Cheongsol chimed in again.
Noel glanced at Cheongsol at the sudden request.
Cheongsol caught Noel's look and smiled awkwardly.
"I will tell you only when it is necessary. Excuse me."
But since he had already heard it, Noel decided to pass it along.
"Sir. Don't start that business. I'm told it will definitely fail."
"......"
A heavy silence fell over the room.
The middle-aged man, in particular, looked utterly flabbergasted.
He was probably right on the verge of signing the contract.
The choice was theirs now, so they could do as they pleased.
"Now, could you guide me to your grandmother's room?" Noel asked casually.
"...Have you come?"
As soon as the door opened, the grandmother was kneeling on the floor, bowing her head deeply.
"---!"
Noel gasped in surprise and rushed over.
"You don't have to do this!"
His voice rose reflexively in his panic.
He hadn't expected anything like this.
He was losing his mind from the sheer awkwardness.
"Last night, this old woman dreamed that a noble guest would visit. It must have been the Mountain God who sent you."
"Yes, that's right, so please stand up."
Noel tried to help her up with his one good hand, but Asin gently lifted the elderly woman.
The old woman's head turned toward Asin.
"Thank you."
"They said you have good spiritual intuition, and indeed you do," Asin murmured.
Asin gently stroked the old woman's head.
Whether she felt that touch or not, she smiled softly.
Noel carefully led her to the bed.
He pulled several leaves from his pocket.
"The Mountain God told me to tell you to chew and eat them thoroughly, even if they taste bad. He said that's how you'll get better."
Noel passed along the Mountain God's words exactly as he handed over the leaves.
The old woman held out both hands, looking at them as if they were precious treasures.
"...Why did he give such a precious thing to this old woman who doesn't have much longer to live?"
"Because you remembered him."
Noel gave the answer he knew best.
Spirits always rejoiced when people remembered them and spoke of them.
The old woman looked at Noel.
"I have always served the Mountain God. My mother did, my grandmother did, and..."
"Remembering someone isn't something to be taken for granted. That's why it's so precious. So please, take them. You can think of it as a gift, or as a reward for remembering him."
Honestly, what had the Mountain God actually done for them?
Even if he wanted to help, there were limits if they couldn't see or hear him.
"I have already received so much help. Even if I couldn't see him or speak with him, I always knew when he was playing his tricks."
"Tricks?"
"Yes. When I was a child, I climbed the mountain without knowing any better, and the very first gift I received was a plum blossom. Back then, I didn't know how precious it was."
The old woman smiled brightly, as if she had traveled back to that time.
It was prettier and more beautiful than any plum blossom she had ever seen.
It was amazing how it never withered, no matter how much time passed, as long as she watered it.
"I was very sick back then for no reason. It was only after I recovered that I realized my mother had taken me there to beg the Mountain God to heal me. The plum blossom that had never withered for so long withered the moment I got better."
"It seems she was targeted by an evil spirit," Asin murmured. "Or perhaps harmed by an evil spirit that hated the Mountain God. Evil spirits filled with impurity instinctively hate those who have accumulated merit."
"You are exactly right," Cheongsol replied. "That was when I was stationed here. Since this family worshiped the Mountain God, how could those spirits not find them eyesores?"
'Of course they would lash out like that. Someone's belief soon turns into power.'
Noel wanted to snort, but he held it in.
As a Mountain God, he drew power from everything on the mountain, so he actually needed human belief far less than other god-class spirits.
Even so, the fact that he had sent Cheongsol meant he cherished them deeply, didn't it?
"That was when I realized the Mountain God existed. With a child's heart, I climbed that mountain alone. Quite fearlessly, too."
"Weren't you scared?"
"At first, I climbed excitedly, but the further I went, the more fear crept in. Now there are paths, but back then, there were no paths at all. Just as I was about to cry, confused about whether I was going the right way or if I was lost, a squirrel came down from a tree."
~Do you like squirrels?~
At those words, Noel suddenly remembered what the Mountain God had said.
"And it wasn't just one or two. My tears vanished instantly. As if telling me to follow, they walked ahead when I walked, and stopped when I stopped. It was so fascinating that I climbed higher and higher without feeling tired, until I saw a tree."
The old woman painted the scene she had first witnessed with her words.
"There was a massive plum blossom tree in full bloom, even though it was autumn. I stared at it for a long time. In my entire life, I had never seen such a beautiful flowering tree."
It seemed to be the very plum blossom tree Noel had seen earlier.
It appeared the Mountain God had allowed the old woman inside his barrier.
"The moment I turned around to leave, after saying thank you for healing me and promising to come back, I actually saw him."
"...You saw him?"
"Yes. He was an incredibly beautiful person. With white hair, wearing a white robe, holding a long pipe, he looked at me."
'She really saw him...?'
Noel glanced at Cheongsol.
Seeing that even the spirit was surprised, she had probably never told anyone about this before.
"His gaze was so warm that I wanted to say something, but I was afraid of startling him, so I couldn't. I walked forward, then looked back again, but he was no longer there."
It was only that once.
Though she had climbed that mountain countless times, she never saw him again, even as the seasons changed and wrinkles covered her hands.
"I have never told this to a single soul. Did this old woman commit an impertinence against the Mountain God?"
"No. If you had spoken to him back then, he probably would have been very happy."
Sometimes, inexplicable things happened, whether by coincidence or something else.
People called it a miracle, hope, and wrapped it in countless positive words.
What that old woman had experienced back then was surely one of those inexplicable things.
"......Ah."
The grandmother's eyes welled with tears.
Perhaps she felt a lingering regret for not speaking to him back then.
"I am relieved."
A slow smile spread across her lips.
"...?"
"You were listening to my story all along. The plum blossom petals that fell on my face whenever I spoke were not a coincidence. His tricks... were all his way of saying, 'I am listening to your story.'"
The grandmother looked at Noel with eyes full of longing and gratitude.
"I will deliver my thanks to the Mountain God myself. I still have the strength to climb the mountain."
As soon as she finished speaking, she swallowed the leaves.
She grimaced, as if they tasted truly awful.
But after eating them all, she smiled again.
She looked completely happy.
'Since the Mountain God is a spirit too, he should be able to materialize briefly.'
It would be good for both the Mountain God and the grandmother.
'If I arrange that, the Mountain God will probably give me a better wild ginseng, right?'
His weak body definitely needed some nourishment.
Tap, tap.
At the sound of tapping on the window, Noel glanced over.
He saw Kkamangi.
He had forgotten to leave the window open.
Noel sent a late reply to the woman with the guardian deity whom he had met at the side dish shop and the shopping mall.
"Excuse me, Shaman..."
As Noel was about to leave, the middle-aged man hurriedly stopped him. Noel pocketed his phone and turned around.
They had invited him to stay for dinner, but he had declined, preferring to eat at home.
"It's already dark outside. Let me drive you home."
Seeing him offer this despite the rejection, there was clearly something else on his mind.
He looked quite anxious.
It was probably about the business.
"I'll listen on the way," Noel smiled warmly.
When an opportunity presented itself, you had to row the boat.
He had the Mountain God's blessing, and this was a wealthy neighborhood, after all.